Sophie Simon Solves Them All by Lisa Graff Page A

pull.”
    â€œOh, peanut, doesn’t that sound delightful?” her mother exclaimed. “It would be a perfect opportunity to make friends.”
    Sophie didn’t answer. She had never been to a birthday party, and she never wanted to go to one, either. And she certainly didn’t want any friends . Sophie knew for a fact that she didn’t need friends.
    Friends did things like hang from the monkey bars and trade stickers.
    Friends told each other secrets and laughed at silly jokes.
    Having friends sounded like a waste of time.
    â€œYou know,” Sophie said, trying to change the subject, “you really don’t have to walk me to the bus stop anymore. I’m old enough to come by myself.”
    â€œOh, bean sprout!” her mother said. “We could never let you walk all this way by yourself!”
    â€œIt’s three whole blocks!” her father agreed. “What if you got lost?”
    At dinner the night before, Sophie had built a topographic map of Zimbabwe out of her mashed potatoes. She would not have gotten lost.
    â€œHere, dumpling,” her mother said. “I made some cupcakes for your lunch. Let me put them in your backpack.” She tugged at Sophie’s zipper.
    â€œMom,” Sophie said, “I’ve told you. I don’t like cupcakes.”
    Sophie’s favorite dessert was flan, a Mexican custard that her parents said looked like refrigerated cat food.
    â€œDon’t be silly, graham cracker!” her mother said as she opened Sophie’s backpack. “All well-adjusted children like cup—”
    She did not finish her sentence.
    â€œSophie!” she screeched, her head halfway inside the backpack.
    â€œWhat?” Sophie’s father asked. “What is it?”
    â€œOh, Maxwell, you won’t believe what I found in our daughter’s bag! It’s a…” She pulled out the object, and her husband snatched it from her.
    â€œNo!” he gasped.
    â€œYes!” Sophie’s mother cried.
    â€œIt’s a textbook!”
    â€œA college textbook!”
    â€œMom,” Sophie said. “Dad. I—” But she didn’t get a chance to explain.
    â€œAdvanced Concepts in Modern Calculus,” her father read. “Oh, Aileen, just imagine! Our well-adjusted daughter, exposed to this … educational material! The kind of stuff most adults don’t understand!”
    Sophie’s mother put a hand on his shoulder. “Now, Maxwell, calm down. We don’t even know if this book belongs to Sophie. Someone could have slipped it into her bag without her noticing. Let’s give her a chance to explain before we get so worked up.” She turned to Sophie. “Sugarplum?”
    Sophie shrugged. “I just wanted to look at it on the bus,” she said. “That’s all.”
    Sophie’s mother sucked in her breath. “Sophie!” she cried. “All this time you promised you’d only spend your free time reading comic books!”
    â€œMay I have my book back?” Sophie asked. “I want to study before school starts.”
    â€œOh, Maxwell!” Sophie’s mother wailed, grabbing her husband’s arm. “Where did we go wrong?”
    Sophie’s father was shaking his head. “You try so hard to be a good parent,” he said. “And then you find out your eight-year-old daughter is studying calculus. ”
    Sophie puffed out her cheeks.
    Other children were beginning to join them at the bus stop.
    â€œBut calculus is interesting,” she tried to explain.
    Sophie’s father pointed an angry finger at her. “Don’t you tell me calculus is interesting, young lady. I happen to know that calculus is not interesting. Calculus is math. ”
    Sophie’s father was right about one thing. Calculus was math. A very complicated kind of math. It involved long equations with letters and numbers and symbols so confusing that most